Putting Blame on Albany, Mayor Unveils Budget With Heavy Cuts

Published: May 6, 2010

As Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled a bleak $63 billion budget on Thursday, he warned that it would cause a lot of pain to many New Yorkers and he did not mince words about where to lay the blame: on Albany.

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Pool Photographs by Marc A. Hermann

Joel I. Klein, the schools chancellor, said teacher layoffs could mean an additional three students per classroom on average.

It was Gov. David A. Paterson, Mr. Bloomberg said, who proposed, in his original budget proposal, shortchanging the city by almost $500 million. That set the stage for Mr. Bloomberg’s proposals on Thursday to reduce the city’s teaching force by 6,700, and close 50 senior centers, 16 day care centers and perhaps 10 libraries.

And it was the legislators in Albany, Mr. Bloomberg said, who failed to pass a budget by April 1, as mandated by law, forcing him to reduce the number of firefighters by 400, the equivalent of 20 fire companies.

“We face a terrible price for Albany’s irresponsibility,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who referred to Albany or state officials more than 80 times during his budget presentation at City Hall.

It is customary for Mr. Bloomberg to chastise state legislators as part of the annual budget process, and to do his best Cassandra impression about the perils of deep cuts. But this year, against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, Mr. Bloomberg’s plans to help bridge a $5 billion deficit are being viewed by local officials, lobbyists and others as much graver, and much more realistic.

As a result, the war of words between Albany and City Hall has escalated to an unusual intensity.

Never was the verbal sparring more dramatic, or spontaneous, than toward the end of Mr. Bloomberg’s 45-minute presentation, when a reporter asked the mayor to respond to a statement that had just been released by Robert L. Megna, the state’s budget director. Holding up her BlackBerry, the reporter, Melissa Russo of WNBC, read aloud parts of Mr. Megna’s statement, in which he said that “the mayor’s budget uses the state as a scapegoat to shirk responsibility for their own budget choices.”

“It’s the most outrageous thing he could say,” Mr. Bloomberg snapped. “That’s ridiculous.”

Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president and a former Democratic assemblyman, summoned memories of the 1970s fiscal crisis after he was briefed about the budget. “If Albany doesn’t get their collective act together, they’re going to destroy this city,” he told reporters in the City Hall rotunda. “This is the equivalent of ‘Ford to New York: Drop Dead.’ This is ‘Albany to New York: Drop Dead.’ ”

Under the mayor’s proposal, which covers the fiscal year that starts on July 1, the city would lay off 6,400 teachers and 300 classroom aides, the first mass layoff of teachers since the 1970s.

The rest of the city’s work force would shrink by more than 4,000 positions, mostly through attrition.

Even if Albany comes to the rescue with additional aid later this year, Mr. Bloomberg said, the layoffs might be inevitable.

If the layoffs are carried out, the average elementary school class could grow by three students, said Joel I. Klein, the schools chancellor.

Mr. Klein renewed his call for an end to seniority rules that prohibit principals from laying off teachers solely based on performance. Mr. Klein said if layoffs were necessary, they should begin with the nearly 2,000 teachers who received unsatisfactory ratings from principals last year.

But the city’s powerful teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, is unlikely to agree to such substantial changes. Michael Mulgrew, president of the union, said there had been no progress on the issue, and he said the city should instead concentrate its efforts on lobbying lawmakers for more money.

“We have to keep our focus on Albany, and that is the only thing we can do now,” Mr. Mulgrew said.

The layoffs are also likely to factor into the teachers’ contract that is now being negotiated. “I think it’s just unrealistic that we can afford any raises,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Still, not all the news was dire. The Police Department is to be spared any cuts, in light of the recent bomb plot in Times Square, which the mayor said underscored the need for a robust security presence. Mr. Bloomberg had originally planned to cut the police force, which has dwindled over the last decade, by 892 officers.

The budget would also offer a lifeline to the beleaguered Health and Hospitals Corporation, which is facing a $1 billion deficit. Mr. Bloomberg is providing $350 million to ease the corporation’s debt to avoid the potential closing of treatment centers and specialty outpatient care at most hospitals.

The mayor’s budget also does not contain any new taxes.

But a group of liberal members of the City Council, echoing the populist anger that has swept through much of the country, suggested that the mayor impose taxes on hedge funds and stock traders.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, a council member who represents East Harlem and parts of the Bronx and who is one of the leaders of the Council’s Progressive Caucus, dismissed the mayor’s budget as “trickle-down economics” and said it would do little to revive the economy.

But Mr. Bloomberg scoffed at such suggestions, saying that additional taxes could drive businesses and the wealthiest New Yorkers out of the city.

Given the dire economic news he was delivering, Mr. Bloomberg was asked if he was still glad he had pushed to overturn term limits so he could gain a third term. Seeming a bit surprised, Mr. Bloomberg said: “Yes. I believe we’re going to get through this better than any other city, and we’ll look back and say it was tough, but we pulled together.”

A version of this article appeared in print on May 7, 2010, on page A22 of the New York edition.